Have concerts become just one big cash grab? Original photo by: Alfredo Flores

This past June, Sabrina Carpenter announced the North American leg of her “Short n’ Sweet Tour.” The post included a date for Raleigh’s own Lenovo Center, formally known as PNC Arena, which is October 19th. The Raleigh date will open with emerging artist Griff before heading into Carpenter’s set. This is Carpenter’s first-ever arena tour. During the time between dates being announced and pre-sale on tickets, there was wonder of whether or not she would be able to sell out said arenas. However, when tickets went on sale Carpenter completely blew away the speculators, selling out every single North American show in a little over a week.

While many fans are completely overjoyed with the news of Carpenter selling out arenas, some are concerned about how much ticket pricing has gone up. Millbrook English teacher Ms. Hall said, “When I was in fifth grade I saved up all my money to go to the Taylor Swift ‘Red’ concert. It was $49.99 and I sat at the very top of Bank of America Stadium. Last year, I went to ‘The Eras Tour’. I got my tickets from a friend for about $120 in a similar section. Obviously, I know she’s gotten more popular since, but the comparison is still crazy.”

If you are looking for tickets to Carpenter’s show there is still a chance. Despite the shows being sold out, some people are selling their tickets for a little over $200 on most US dates. These prices aren’t the worst though. Some tickets right from Ticketmaster were being sold for over a thousand dollars each. Sophomore Molly Doran said, “I wasn’t surprised by the ticket prices. I had tried to get tickets to her ‘Emails I Can’t Send’ tour in 2023, and I found that those ticket prices were around $100, so I knew that since she had only increased in popularity since that tour that the ticket prices will have gone up.”

Ticketmaster isn’t a saint when it comes to buying tickets though. Back in 2022, Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ tickets went on pre-sale. They were expected to go on regular sale in just a couple of days, but Ticketmaster sold all the available tickets during the pre-sale. This enraged fans and Swift herself. Tickets were sold way too fast and at a high price due to the demand in the queue. Since then, there has been a lot of controversy over the Ticketmaster’s decisions when selling tickets during designated pre-sales. Ticketmaster is fully able to increase ticket prices due to demand which is being scrutinized by fans in countries all over the world. Ticketmaster is currently undergoing a lawsuit by the US Department of Justice.

The introduction of resellers and scalpers hasn’t helped one bit either. When I think of going to a concert I think of getting to go see one of your favorite artists play their music live. That’s what most people think, right? Wrong. Some people think of a concert as a cash grab. People started buying tickets for shows that they didn’t even plan on going to just so they could resell them and make a quick buck. The highest price on the well-known resale ticket website, Seatgeek, is $2,569 for just one ticket. Millbrook English teacher Mrs. Carter said, “I was SO excited when I saw that Sabrina Carpenter was coming to Raleigh. My sister and I had been talking about going to see her one day since we were younger, so when the dates and locations were released, we were over the moon. However, when I saw how much they were, my heart dropped into my stomach. Even with being financially responsible and having a full-time job, there was absolutely no way I could justify spending almost $300 to go to a concert.” I fully agree with this point. Seeing a concert in your city shouldn’t break the bank. Before the rise of reselling tickets and online ticket purchases, it was fairly easy to attend and afford tickets.

Many countries worldwide have rules and laws set in place on ticket pricing and reselling. In some European countries, they banned selling concert tickets for profit. This kind of legislation does not exist in the U.S. Sophomore Amelia Mclean said, “My family and I decided to go to Ireland for the Eras Tour because ultimately the prices were much lower. We did have to fly there and back as well as hotels and activities but overall I think it was a better choice to go there than somewhere closer like the U.S. where ticket prices were much higher.”
This article is in no way to hate on Sabrina Carpenter or her team. Overall, concert prices have become completely unjustifiable, so it’s up to the fans to decide how much money they are willing to spend to see their favorite artist live.